Questão 21 - UNEB Dia 1 2026

Read the following article.

Vaping and smoking may be fueling a hidden surge in metabolic disease

 

Date: November 13, 2025
Source: University of Georgia

 

New research from the University of Georgia reports that people who use e-cigarettes, traditional cigarettes or both are more likely to develop diabetes. According to the study, smokers showed a notably higher rate of prediabetes and diabetes diagnoses compared with nonsmokers.

 

"In an era when e-cigarettes are marketed as a 'safer' alternative to smoking, this suggests they may carry a hidden peril and may be quietly contributing to long-term health problems like prediabetes and diabetes," said Sulakshan Neupane, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. "As the use of e-cigarettes rises rapidly, it's vital we understand their broader health impacts. This is not just about the lungs anymore but the entire body and metabolic health."

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that vaping continues to grow in popularity, especially among younger people. The study's results indicate that diabetes rates may also rise within these groups as e-cigarette use expands.

 

Researchers also reported that the likelihood of developing diabetes or prediabetes is even higher for Hispanic and Black individuals living in economically disadvantaged settings, along with people who already have underlying health problems.

[...]

Fonte: www-sciencedaily. Acessado em: 13 nov. de 25.

 

In the sentence "this suggests they may carry a hidden peril and may be quietly contributing to long-term health problems", the word "peril " can be best understood considering its semantic field and morphological structure.

 

With regard to this term and other vocabulary elements from the text, evaluate the statements below:

 

I.From the context, peril can be inferred as the opposite of safety, because the article contrasts the marketing of e-cigarettes as "safer alternatives" with evidence of harmful outcomes.

 

II.The word likelihood (paragraph 4) contains the suffix − hood, which indicates estado/condição, allowing the reader to infer that the term refers to the condition or probability of something occurring.

 

III.The term underlying (paragraph 4) can be logically inferred as "pre-existing" or "foundational", since the text states that risks increase "for people who already have underlying health problems".

 

IV.The word disadvantaged, used to describe certain economic contexts, includes the prefix dis-, which in this case functions as an intensifier rather than a negation, giving the meaning of "extremely favored".

 

V.Considering the semantic field of the text, a possible synonym for surge (title/subtitle) is increase, whereas an antonym could be decline, which aligns with logical implications in research about disease rates.

 

Select the correct option: